By Van Yandell
Matthew 25: 40 “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Have you ever heard a sound you could not place? You did not know where it came from or what it was, so you dismissed it and went your way. Then the next day you heard it again. This time, you make a decision to determine the great mystery.
When I was teaching, I would get home from work and go for a run or a bicycle ride. On a ride one warm spring day about ten miles from home I heard what I thought was a whining somewhere along the road.
Thinking my ears were playing tricks, I pedaled on. The next day riding the same route, the sound was heard again. This time I knew I had to stop. Laying my bike in the ditch I proceeded to walk back along the road to try to determine the sound.
About fifty yards behind me was a cardboard box; the noise was coming from the box. Upon examination, I found a litter of puppies. There were seven of them someone had thrown out and left to starve or be eaten by a predator.
Going on home I told wife Margie and said “I’m going back in the truck and get them.” She said “Wait for me!”
We drove out to the place, loaded up the puppies and took them home. They were covered in fleas for which I made a flea treatment bath with warm water and detergent and washed them thoroughly. Margie rinsed them and dried them with her hair dryer. She gave them water and soft food. By then they were really hungry.
Then we called the local animal control office. We were told the officer would come get them and find them a good home. A few weeks later I called her to find out if the puppies had been adopted and she said “Yes they have.”
All is well that ends well and that time it did. However, throwing puppies, kittens or any other animal away like trash takes the lowest form of human life on the face of the earth. Of course that’s just my opinion.
There are numerous actions that might also be classified as inhuman and completely unconscionable. Animal cruelty as in tossing out the puppies is among the top ones. People that abuse others (sexual, mental, physically) are equally uncivilized regardless of the age of the victim.
Another is the Christian that regards the lost/unchurched as disposable or unimportant. If we don’t have a burden for the lost in sin, somewhere, we’ve missed the point of Christianity.
Acts 1: 8 “But ye shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Jesus’ last command to us before He ascended was to be witnesses of Him into this lost and dying world. “Ye shall receive power” is directly referring to the Holy Spirit of God which empowers a Christian. We find the giving of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2: 2-4, just as Jesus said would happen.
We find in Matthew 3: 15 the statement of John the Baptist a short time before Jesus was baptized. “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”
John the Baptist and several Biblical writers reinforce the belief that when one believes, he/she becomes indwelt with the Holy Spirit. In that we were created in God’s image (Genesis 1: 27), we also have a spirit and the combining of His spirit with ours gives us amazing power.
Acts 1: 8 gives four geographical areas “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.” I have come to believe Samaria is not referring to a place but a people. Jesus apparently is telling believers in Him, “Don’t draw physical limitations on those you tell about Me.”
Also we might consider the “uttermost parts of the earth.” We might initially think that is indicating the other side of the planet but not necessarily. A co-worker, a neighbor, classmate or even someone in your own home that you find difficult to reason with might be considered the uttermost.
A woman at church told me about her son-in-law. He laughed at her any time she tried to share Jesus. She was in the uttermost. A neighbor once told me “I don’t want to hear that nonsense!” We were in the uttermost.
Not long ago I was pumping gas into my vehicle. A very large bearded man was pumping on the other side and we struck up a conversation. Into our discussion I asked “Do you believe you have something like a spirit or a soul that will live after you die?” He said “Yes I do.”
Then I asked “Do you believe there is a heaven in which one’s spirit will spend eternity like the Bible indicates?” His answer: “Absolutely!”
“So where do you believe your soul will spend eternity?” “I’m going to Heaven.” Then I asked “Why?”
His answer took me by surprise. “Because I believe Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, He shed His blood and died for my sins on the cross and that He resurrected in three days from the dead.”
It turned out he was a deacon in the church and had worked Christian missions for three decades. Was that a wasted conversation? Absolutely not! Perhaps he will tell someone based on our conversation.
Van Yandell is a retired Industrial Arts teacher, an ordained gospel evangelist and commissioned missionary. His email is vmy3451@gmail.com.
